A note on Finding Aids: Finding
Aids are tools to
assist researchers in gaining access to and understanding archival
materials. A finding aid provides context for a collection and
usually includes:

historical and/or biographical
information

acquisition and provenance
information

the scope of the collection
(including size, subjects, and media)

organization and arrangement,
including inventory of series and folders

Civil Rights Archives

The Civil Rights Archive of the Queens College Special Collections and Archives collects published and unpublished works relating to civil rights activities such as personal papers, community materials, organizational records, non-print materials, and artifacts. The collections are particularly strong in documenting civil rights work of Queens College students during the early 1960s. Visit the Civil Rights Archive website, featuring digital reproductions of photographs, print materials, artifacts and more. We encourage curriculum collaboration – please read "A How To Guide for QC Faculty: The Civil Rights Archive and Your Courses".

Processing is currently underway for departmental, administrative, alumni and student records spanning decades of activity on campus. Our holdings represent a diversity of activities dating from 1937 to the present. You can view the finding aids below for fully processed collections, or contact us for access to departmental and faculty records and publications. Note: The majority of student newspapers, from the first newspaper (the Crown) to the recent Quad and current Knight News, are available on microfilm in the Library Media Center. The Archives has original copies and a few specialized newspapers not microfilmed.

The Silhouette (Yearbook)The archive holds a complete set (1941-present) of The Silhouette, the Queens College yearbook, available for research on site. 1942-1950 are available online through the History Department.

Class BulletinsBulletins are available online from 1993 to the present. The archives holds physical copies of most of the bulletins from 1940-2010.

The Performing Arts and Music Collections offer a broad disciplinary survey of theatre, film, television and music. Selections include rare playbills, publicity materials and working documents used by a variety of performing arts professionals, and diaries, manuscripts, and programs from composers.

In addition to College records, the Archives collects private papers and manuscript collections of important figures in our community. Notably, we hold the archives of Congressman Saul Weprin, Congressman Benjamin Rosenthal, and Judge Charles Colden, which are currently being processed by staff in the department.

The department collects original materials and reference works that support research into material history and print culture. Highlights include 17th and 18th century monographs and 20th century and contemporary zines. The rare books collection houses over 6,000 rare volumes from 1382 to the present day in a variety of genres, formats and languages.

The Archives also has a growing collection of unique artists' books, representing a broad selection from local and nationally recognized book artists. These works of art presented in an unconventional book form offer a remarkable resource for academic research and personal study, and challenge our perception of the traditional book design. Artists' books invite the reader to examine the nature of the book and encourage the idea of a multifarious reading experience. Please visit our digital showcase of Artist Books.

The Queens Memory Project is a collaborative digital archive by Queens Library and Queens College featuring oral history recordings, photographs, maps, news clippings, ephemera, and other records documenting contemporary life in Queens, New York. It is a dynamic testament of collective memory for the residents of the most diverse county in the United States. Interviews and archival records gathered from many sources document the borough's people and places; their differences, their changes over time, and their strong ties to one another. The project welcomes contributors and volunteers. To learn more, visit www.queensmemory.org or contact the QMP Director at Natalie.Milbrodt@queenslibrary.org.

The Seamen's Church Institute (SCI) has operated in the Port of New York since 1834, providing ministry and aid to seafarers and port workers for nearly two centuries. SCI's records consist of correspondence, photographs, minutes, printed material, scrapbooks, journals, registers, reports and ephemera related to the day-to-day operation of the Institute, as well as the working waterfront of New York City. The collections are particularly strong in the areas of maritime ministry, waterfront labor and New York City history, specifically the development of Lower Manhattan from shipping hub to financial center.

Click here to access the Seamen's Church Institute Archives Digital Collection. The six series of the Digital Collection are: Annual Reports, Minutes, Photo Scrapbooks, Photographs, Chaplains' Journals and The Lookout.

Click here to access "An Overview of the Seamen's Church Institute Archives for Researchers, Cultural Institutions, and Educators."